So: what modifications have you made to your boat to increase its seaworthiness?

All you have to do is take a look at the ISAF offshore special regulations (available here:ISAF : Official Site : Documents & Rules : Offshore Special Regs : Offshore Special Regs Index) to know that there are lots of things that can be done to your boat to make it more seaworthy. Well, if you have made any modifications to your boat to improve its seaworthiness, post here! Obviously, pictures and a brief explanation of how difficult or easy it was to do, and how expensive, are helpful. And I don't just mean modifications for crossing oceans. Any modifications you have made that you feel have improved the seaworthiness of your boat in any way, even a minor one, can help others here improve their confidence in their boat and maybe gain the confidence to go farther afield!

I'll start with one mod I did this past winter. The original plastic ports were still on my 1981 hunter 25 when I bought it. They were crazed and cracked, leaked about two gallons of water onto the boat in every rain storm, and the wet core around them was rotted. I didn't have the money for new ones, so I decided to replace them with smoked acrylic, screwed onto the outside.

By following the instructions in "this old boat", it was not difficult to make the new ports. Cutting and drilling the new ones took a weekend, and it took a morning to take out the old ones and cut square openings where the old oval ports were. Then I taped and spray painted the inside part of the acrylic that would not be over an actual opening, so you can't see the white deck underneath it. Finally I screwed it in with ss #10 screws, and #10 through bolts every three holes.

Was:

Now:

No more leaks, no more rotting core, no more worrying about old uv damaged plastic being the only thing keeping green water out of the cabin.